Pagoda

We took a minute today to visit a Buddist Pagoda. You walk through a filthy, smelly marketplace (piles of fly covered fish for sale) and turn the corner to a beautiful peaceful pagoda. About 75 monks live there, they run a school on the site. They were very kind about visiting with us and answering our questions.
Pagodas stand pristine and immaculately maintained in cites and villages all over Cambodia lacking proper infrastructure for things we take for granted every day such as garbage collection and clean drinking water. The primary religion here is Buddism and the belief is in reincarnation and karma. So even though many Cambodians are extremely poor, they bring gifts and money to the monks at the pagoda for good karma and a better life when you are reincarnated.Sculptures like this one cover the grounds. Honoring Buddha and representing the monks that serve him.

I need to do some research and figure out the symbolism behind all of the sculptures… or ask a monk.

You see this type of monument all over Cambodia, I learned today that it’s a grave marker.

Q and one of our kind monk friends willing to stand for pictures.

Beautiful flowers everywhere, I’ve seen some of the most gorgeous flowers since I’ve been here. The water lilies are about as big as the palm of your hand and hard to photograph because the flowers are only open in the morning and close up tight at about noon. I’m working on it…